Survival of seven gharials in Mahanadi gorge boosts hope
- Bhubaneswar: The survival of seven gharials, of which four are radio Colla- red, in Mahanadi gorge in Mahanadi and Satko Sia wildlife divisions has brought a ray of hope for increasing the number of the endangered species in the state.
- Radio-collared gharials from the Nandan Kanan zoo were released every year under a four-year (2019-2022) planned gharial breeding project. From the mating of radio-collared gharials, seven naturally bred ones are now surviving in the gorge. The 21-km gorge, that separates the Mahanadi and Satko Sia wildlife divisions, is considered a core area.
- Gharials that are radio- collared are released into the water to track their movement through radio frequency. Out of the 19 released gharials since 2019, the wildlife authorities have been able to track four. "It is a good sign that gharials, an endangered species, have survived in the gorge (in the wild), which did not happen earlier even though a lot of attempts were made. Prior to 2016, as many as 800 gharials (non-radio collared) had been released in the gorge but none survived. The four years of planned release has yielded results," said Satkosia tiger reserve field director M Yoga- jayanand.
- He further said gharials get easily caught in fishing nets and die. "Since 2016, we have banned fishing in Mahanadi gorges. This has also helped sustain the population," he added.
- The wildlife authorities also claimed that they have sighted 28 hatchlings of gharials.
- In 2019, one of the five radio-collared gharials released in Mahanadi gorge was sighted in a creek, about 80 km from the release site. This showed their survival instinct and adaptation to the wild, officials had said. Despite adverse weather conditions, the gharial travelled far against the current of water in search of food. The average life span of gharials in the wild is 50-60 years.